Key details

Christopher Harper-Mercer, the gunman who attacked Umpqua Community College on Thursday, had long struggled with mental illness and was described as a "hate-filled" individual with anti-government, anti-religious and white supremacist leanings, law enforcement officials said.

Harper-Mercer was a student in the English class where he opened fire.

Fourteen firearms were found at the college and at Harper-Mercer's apartment, officials said Saturday after finding another weapon at his residence.

The nine people killed by the gunman ranged from 18 to 67 years old. Nine others were injured.

We've been following developments today on who exactly the shooter, Chris Harper-Mercer, was and what might have led him to gun down his classmates.

Some things we reported today, in addition to the above: He grew up in Southern California, but had recently moved to Oregon. He struggled with mental health issues, officials said, and neighbors recall seeing him throw tantrums at his apartment complex in Torrance.

In Torrance, he attended a special needs school and community college before moving with his mother to Oregon.

And in 2008, he joined the Army but was discharged a month later.

An online dating profile described Harper-Mercer as "conservative" and "Not religious...but Spiritual." Web postings using an email address associated with Harper-Mercer mentioned the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and commented on Vester Flanagan, the disgruntled ex-employee who shot a Virginia television news reporter and cameraman at his former station on-air.

'Hero' rushed in front of gunman after hearing shots

When a gunman opened fire in a classroom next to his, Chris Mintz rushed toward the sound of the bullets popping, according to an account he gave Jayme Skinner, the mother of his son.

Mintz approached the gunman and pleaded with him.

"It's my son's birthday!" Mintz told the shooter as he collapsed to the ground, Skinner said.

Bullets hit Mintz in the upper back, hip, abdomen and left hand, Skinner said, but he is in stable condition at the hospital.

Their son, Tyrik, turned 6 on Thursday. He has autism, Skinner said, and doesn't understand what happened.

"It's a blessing," Skinner said, tears welling in her eyes.

She said she wasn't at all surprised by Mintz's instinct to jump in and try to protect others -- he served time in Iraq, she said, as an Army infantry soldier.

"I would've been shocked if he didn't," she said.

Skinner said Mintz -- who's also a body builder -- is originally from North Carolina, but came to Oregon with her. He chose Umpqua, she said, because he wants to be a personal trainer and the school has a good program.

Sheriff identifies nine killed in shootings

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office identified the nine people who were shot and killed in the attack at Umpqua Community College on Thursday morning.

-- Lucero Alcaraz, 19, Roseburg, Ore.

-- Quinn Glen Cooper, 18, Roseburg

-- Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59, Roseburg

-- Lucas Eibel, 18, Roseburg

-- Jason Johnson, 33, Winston, Ore.

-- Lawrence Levine, 67, Glide, Ore.

-- Sarena Dawn Moore, 44, Myrtle Creek, Ore.

-- Treven Taylor Anspach, 20, Sutherlin, Ore.

-- Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18, Myrtle Creek

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin also revised the number of those who were killed and injured in Thursday's shootings. Ten people, including the gunman, were killed and nine were injured, Hanlin said Friday.

Obama: To limit gun deaths, 'we've gotta change the politics'

President Obama reiterated his call Friday for congressional lawmakers to act to stem gun violence, vowing to campaign for changes and to further politicize the issue.

Speaking in the wake of Thursday's mass shooting at a community college in Oregon, Obama said gun violence won't end "until the politics changes and the behavior of elected officials changes."

He promised to keep talking about the issue and pointed out that Congress' failure to strengthen background checks after the Newtown shooting in 2012 was because of political differences.

"We've gotta change the politics of this," Obama said at a news conference at the White House.

Obama said he has asked his administration for more steps it can take to stop gun violence but that he wants to go further.

Ten people were shot to death Thursday at Umpqua Community College, including the gunman, identified by law enforcement officials as Chris Harper Mercer. He was described as a "hate-filled" individual with anti-government, anti-religious and white-supremacy leanings.

Hours after the massacre, a visibly frustrated Obama said he has grown tired of what has become the "routine" nature of mass shootings in the U.S., and he demanded a change in the politics of guns in America, saying that simply thinking of and praying for victims was "not enough."

12:39 p.M.

Mass shootings 'are going to keep happening until we decide it will stop'

Top Oregon officials thanked the first responders to the shooting and called for a halt to the number of mass shootings in the U.S.

Gov. Kate Brown, U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Rep. Peter DeFazio praised the town of Roseburg for coming together to help the victims of Thursday's shooting.

"All of Oregon stands with Umpqua Community College and Roseburg," Brown said, adding that mass shootings are "going to keep happening until we decide it will stop."

"This is a conversation we will have," she said of gun-control laws. "But today is not the day."

13 weapons recovered in college shooting

Law enforcement officials said 13 weapons were recovered from Umpqua Community College and the gunman's residence.

Six were found at the school.

Seven were taken from the apartment of Chris Harper Mercer, 26.

All were purchased legally, officials said.

Mercer opened fire at the college Thursday morning, killing nine people. He was then killed in a gunfight with sheriff's deputies.

--Michael Muskal

9:29 A.M.

Gunman held anti-government beliefs, source says

Investigators believe that Chris Harper Mercer, the gunman in the Oregon college shooting, was a hate-filled individual with anti-government and conspiracy tendencies, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the probe said Friday.

Mercer's communications and activities suggest he was supportive of the white supremacist agenda and opposed organized religion, said the source, who did not want to be named because of the ongoing investigation.

The 26-year-old gunman, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement officers, also liked to discuss military history, the source said. Authorities have obtained some of his writings and a note he left behind.

This photo appears on the MySpace page of someone purporting to be Chris Harper Mercer. (MySpace.com)

Chris Harper Mercer was obsessed with guns and religion and had some leanings toward white supremacy, according to a federal law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.

During the Thursday rampage, Mercer, 26, wore body armor and had extra ammunition, although it is unclear whether he carried the ammunition during the shooting or left it in his car, the source said Friday.

Police search at gunman's apartment

8:00 A.M.

Weapons found in gunman's apartment

A number of weapons have been found during an overnight search of the apartment that was home to the gunman who attacked an Oregon community college, killing at least nine, officials said Friday morning.

Investigators are trying to sort out a motive in the Thursday attack at Umpqua Community College that also left 10 wounded.

The gunman, identified by law enforcement as Chris Harper Mercer, 26, died in a gunfight with officers.

The investigation into the shooting is continuing, Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin told television stations in Eugene, Ore. early Friday.

Further details are expected to be released at news conferences later in the day.

College entrance blocked

7:11 A.M.

'Disbelief' and raw emotion

(Marisa Gerber / Los Angeles Times)

At a Friday morning news conference, Dr. Jason Gray, chief medical officer of Mercy Medical Center, said the average age of the Umpqua Community College shooting victims skewed young. Some of the victims' injuries, he said, included gunshot wounds to the abdomen and head.

"The initial emotions are disbelief," Gray said, wincing. "It's still very raw."

But he'd found some comfort, he said, in the outpouring of support from across the country.

Retired physicians came in Thursday to offer help, he said, and people in Louisiana and Georgia had pizzas delivered to the hospital staff. Someone else sent coffee.

Mercy Medical Center Chief Executive Kelly Morgan said many people on the hospital's staff trained at UCC and that he expected many employees knew victims.

"I assure you," he said, "every single person at the hospital will be impacted."

Hospital reports 10 admitted after shooting

Dr. Jason Gray, chief medical officer of Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg has updated the status of 10 patients who were admitted to the hospital after the Umpqua Community College shooting.

-- 1 person died in the ER

-- 4 went into surgery

-- 3 were transferred to another hospital for a higher level of care

-- 2 were treated and released Thursday. One person currently hospitalized is expected to be released today.

10:04 P.M.

'If they said they were Christians, they were shot again'

Ana Boylan, 18, was in her classroom at Umpqua Community College when the gunman entered and shot her professor, she told family members Thursday afternoon.

Boylan, who had started attending the college this week, was shot in the back, said her grandmother, Janet Willis. A girl standing next to her was shot, too, Willis said.

"They just laid on the ground and pretended they were dead," Willis said her granddaughter told her and other family members. Boylan tearfully recounted her ordeal from a hospital bed after she'd been airlifted to a Eugene hospital. As she lay wounded in the classroom, she told her grandmother, she heard the gunman ask others to rise and state their religion. "If they said they were Christians, they were shot again," Willis said.

Emotion pours out at vigil

Bryan Clay, 18, talks about his former neighbor Chris Harper Mercer, who is suspected of opening fire at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. (Robert Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Chris Harper Mercer and his mother were familiar faces in the tight-knit Torrance apartment complex where they lived for several years before moving to Oregon a year or two ago, a neighbor said.

Former neighbors described them as quiet people who kept to themselves and rarely socialized with each other. Mercer was often seen riding a red beach cruiser bike and wearing military-style, green pants with black boots.

Several said they sometimes noticed the mother and son carrying black cases that appeared to hold firearms.

David Westly, 45, said some neighbors asked him about the weapons at a community BBQ. Westly said Mercer didn't respond to that question but said he enjoyed going target shooting.

Westly and others on Arlington Avenue expressed shock that Mercer, 26, has been identified by law enforcement sources as the gunman who went on the rampage.

"It's hard to believe," he said.

"I wouldn't have suspected for him to be a troubled person," said neighbor Derrick McClendon, 42. "I'm surprised and shocked. I really am."

In Tarzana, where his father, Ian Mercer, lives with his wife and stepdaughter, neighbors said they only saw him visit a few times. Mercer's father came home around 9:15 Thursday night and quickly stepped inside without saying a word. Three police officers stood across the street,

A crowd is gathering for a vigil

While Thursday's mass shooting at a southwestern Oregon college has sparked a wide-ranging call for stiffer gun safety laws, including an impassioned plea from President Obama, one of the lead investigators into the killings vowed to fight the Obama administration on gun control years ago.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin, whose agency was one of the first to respond to the attack at Umpqua Community College on Thursday, was one of nearly 500 sheriffs who took an oath to protect 2nd Amendment rights in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school massacre in 2012, according to the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Assn. , which spearheaded the effort.

In a letter Hanlin wrote to Vice President Joe Biden in 2013, the sheriff argued that gun control "is NOT the answer to preventing heinous crimes like school shootings," according to a copy of the letter published by Mother Jones on Thursday.

Each sheriff who signed the organization's pledge said he would refuse to enforce any additional gun control measures passed after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which left 20 children and six adults dead.

Oregon sheriff: 'You will never hear me mention his name'

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said Thursday night that police have confirmed the identity of the gunman who opened fire at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, but refused to say the man's name aloud.

Law enforcement sources previously told the Los Angeles Times that the gunman was 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, but a visibly emotional Hanlin said he wouldn't give the gunman the attention he probably craved.

"Let me be very clear: I will not name the shooter. I will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act," Hanlin said. "You will never hear me mention his name."

Police have not commented on a motive in the attack, and Hanlin said the identities of the victims may not be released until Friday at the earliest.

Officers have completed a sweep of campus buildings and found no explosives or other weapons, according to Hanlin. A search of vehicles in the school's parking lot is continuing, he said.

Mercer previously resided in Torrance, according to a law enforcement source.

Shooter identified as Chris Harper Mercer

The Oregon school shooter was area resident Chris Harper Mercer, 26, said a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the case is new and still under investigation. Mercer formerly lived in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County, and has relatives in the San Fernando Valley, according to another law enforcement source.

He added the gunman was armed with three handguns and an assault rifle. The official did not know whether all the guns were fired, or where or how they were obtained.

Officials said they did not believe Mercer was connected to the school as a student or staff member at this time.

The law enforcement official said Mercer's motive was "not immediately clear."

There's a tip line

Additionally, people who were on campus at the time of the shooting and have emerged safely are encouraged to register on the Red Cross website. Their loved ones can then check the site and know their status.

5:07 P.M.

Updated numbers: 10 killed and 7 injured

(Mike Sullivan / Roseburg News-Review)

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin said 10 people were killed and seven others injured in the attack at Umpqua Community College.

Acknowledging that the numbers provided have varied throughout the day, Hanlin said his figures were the most accurate ones available to him.

The state medical examiner's office will be in charge of identifying the dead and notifying their relatives. Hanlin said officials may need up to 48 hours before they make that information public.

Of the seven people injured, three were taken to a hospital in Eugene in critical condition, Hanlin said. The other four were taken to a local hospital.

The identity of the shooter has yet to be released. Hanlin would not comment on a motive in the attack.

Earlier on Thursday, the Oregon attorney general's office told several media outlets that 13 people had been killed in the shooting. A spokeswoman for the office has since told the Los Angeles Times by email that the number was "unconfirmed."

Mix of grief, outrage mark notable reactions to shooting

Annoyed by the "he said-she said" reporting when it comes to firearms and safety, I decided to determine objectively, through polling, whether there was scientific consensus. What I found won't please the National Rifle Assn.

I found widespread confidence that, for example, a gun in the home increases the risk that a woman living in the home will be a victim of homicide (72% agree, 11% disagree) and that a gun in the home makes it a more dangerous place to be (64%) rather than a safer place (5%). There is consensus that guns are not used in self-defense far more often than they are used in crime (73% vs. 8%) and that the change to more permissive gun-carrying laws has not reduced crime rates (62% vs. 9%). There is consensus that strong gun laws reduce homicide (71% vs. 12%).

Of course it's possible to find researchers who side with the NRA in believing that guns make our society safer, rather than more dangerous. But they're in the minority.

Campus' no-guns policy applies to security guards too

The attack on Umpqua Community College was both a "tragedy and an anomaly," college President Rita Calvin said.

"I feel awful. To witness the families that were waiting for the students in the last bus and to see all of the hugs and weeping and trauma that has gone on," Calvin told reporters. "More people were hurt than just the ones that were shot."

Calvin said that the school was not aware of any threatening messages the shooter may have left on social media in recent days, and that no threats had been made against the campus recently.

The campus employs at least one security officer, and several faculty members are retired law enforcement personnel, according to the college.

'I was so terrified for my life'

Cassandra Welding's writing class was nearly over when she heard a noise that seemed to be coming from next door.

A classmate opened the door to look. She was shot.

"We were screaming, 'Close the door! Close the door!'" said Welding, 20.

Another classmate dragged the woman into the room and locked the door. Someone else turned off the lights.

Classmates performed CPR on the woman, who appeared to be shot in the torso.

The sounds kept coming.

Students crawled along the floor to the back right corner of the classroom, getting as far away from the door as possible.

"I was so terrified for my life and I was shaking," she said.

Blood covered the walls near the student who'd been shot. The wounded woman's broken glasses lay on the floor.

Someone called 911. Welding called her mother.

"Hey, Mom, there's a shooting at school," she whispered, afraid the shooter could come in at any minute. "I just heard other people in tears, crying, calling their loved ones and telling them, 'I love you.'"

With frustration, disbelief and frequent anger, President Obama grieved the deaths in the mass shooting and demanded a change in the culture as he described gun violence as a uniquely American problem -- and lamented Americans' numbness to it.

"We are the only advanced country on Earth that sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months," Obama said from the White House briefing room, his voice rising in frustration. "Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine."

He called on federal and state elected officials to help him change laws, saying, "This is not something I can do by myself."

Obama urges 'a change of politics'

3:26 P.M.

Somehow this has become routine.

President Obama on mass shootings

3:19 P.M.

What police told one another right after the shooting

(Michael Sullivan / The News-Review)

In the first frantic series of police recordings about the shooting at Umpqua Community College, officers said the suspect was possibly armed with a "long gun" when he opened fire into a crowded section of Snyder Hall.

On the recordings, a dispatcher can be heard saying the gunman was "outside one of the doors shooting through the doors" of Snyder Hall.

There were at least 35 people inside the building at the time, police said on the recordings.

Several minutes into the recording, an officer on scene can be heard describing an exchange of gunfire with the assailant before shouting, "The suspect is down!"

After the gunfire ends, another officer can be heard calling for immediate medical aid.

"They need to dispatch as many ambulances as possible to this incident," the officer says. "We have upwards of 20 victims."

Gunman was shot and killed

The gunman who opened fire at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore, was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police, Douglas County Sheriff Jon Hanlin told reporters.

Hanlin said sheriff's deputies responded to reports of an active shooter at 10:38 a.m. The deputies found the gunman, who was not identified, inside of a campus building and a shootout began, according to Hanlin.

At that point, the man was shot and killed, Hanlin said. The sheriff confirmed that there were "confirmed injuries and confirmed fatalities," but he declined to give a specific number, as other officials have.

"I've heard varying numbers, and I don't want to report on a number that is inaccurate," Hanlin said.

Hanlin declined to describe the shooter or comment on what type of weapon he may have used. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, speaking in a separate briefing, said the shooter was 20 years old.

'Pray for us'

When a shooter opened fire this morning at Umpqua Community College in southwestern Oregon, Douglas County Commissioner Tim Freeman's 19-year-old son was on campus.

Freeman said his son was prepared with an emergency plan -- and lucky: "He immediately left campus, went to a friend's house, to a safe location, and called me."

"We're now in that horrible club of schools that have had to deal with this," Freeman said. "I hope communities around our nation will pray for us."

Freeman said he is assisting with the incident command center that has been set up on campus, helping deploy mental health, counseling and other resources for students and faculty members who have been evacuated to various sites in the county.

As of 1 p.m. PDT, Freeman said, a handful of students were still being loaded into buses to be evacuated from campus. "The lines are almost done," he said. "Virtually all faculty are gone now."

Law enforcement officials were continuing to sweep buildings on campus, he said.

Obama briefed

The White House said President Obama has been briefed by his homeland security advisor on the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., according to the Associated Press. At the president's request, he'll continue to receive updates throughout the day.

1:28 P.M.

13 reported dead

Oregon's attorney general says 13 people have died in the shooting, according to the Associated Press.

1:21 P.M.

Three main hospitals receiving patients: 'We are feeling very well prepared'

The three main hospitals taking patients in connection with the Umpqua Community College shooting in Oregon are PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield, Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg and Providence Portland Medical Center in Portland, according to Anne Williams, a spokeswoman for PeaceHealth Sacred Heart.

Williams said the call to receive patients came in almost immediately after news of the incident broke.

"We are feeling very well prepared," Williams said. "We called in additional staff. We have trauma surgeons ready. We cleared out the emergency department to accept the patients."

'Today is heartbreaking,' governor says

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and state police are scheduled to speak to reporters about the Umpqua Community College shooting at 1:30 p.m. PDT in Portland.

"My heart is heavy as details of today's shooting become available," Brown said in a statement. "While it is still too early to know all of the facts, the effects of an incident such as this one are long-lasting. Please join me in keeping the victims and their families, as well as first responders, in your thoughts."

Umpqua Community College had been in the news earlier this week for a federal report critiquing schools with some of the highest rates of loan defaults.

Umpqua caters to students who generally can't attend more elite four-year universities.

"There is a realization that things are not as good for this generation as they were for their parents' generation," Umpqua President Joe Olson told the Oregonian on Thursday regarding the Education Department report.

5 more patients to hospital

There is a moment following every mass killing when the media turn their attention to the shooter's mental health. Pundits wonder: Could the tragedy have been averted if only the killer had received better psychiatric care?

But looking to our mental health system to address the problem of mass shootings is misguided and potentially even harmful, for a few reasons.

Hospital receiving patients

Today's tragedy joins a long list of mass shootings in the nation. Here's a look back at several other notable ones, from an attack at a McDonald's in San Ysidro, Calif., in 1984, to this year's rampage at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C.